2 ex-Minneapolis cops reject plea deal over George Floyd killing, head to state trial: 'It would be lying'
Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng face state trial in October
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two former Minneapolis police officers rejected plea deals Monday on state charges connected to the May 2020 killing of George Floyd and are now slated to stand trial beginning in October.
During a 15-minute court hearing Monday morning, the former officers, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng, rejected final offers from the state to avoid trail, FOX 9 Minneapolis reported.
In the final plea offer, state prosecutors proposed a 36-month sentence on the aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting manslaughter charges to be served at the same time as the federal sentence.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But both defendants rejected the deal, and their state trial is set to begin with jury selection on Oct. 24, with opening statements scheduled for Nov. 7.
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Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao, left, and his attorney Robert Paule arrive for sentencing for violating George Floyd's civil rights outside the Federal Courthouse Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP, File)
Thao, Kueng and a third former Minneapolis police officer, Thomas Lane, were working with Derek Chauvin when he pinned Floyd’s neck with his knee for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man captured on viral bystander video said he could not breathe and eventually grew still.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It would be lying for me to accept any plea offer," Thou said Monday.
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill had set a limited window for accepting a plea deal ahead of trial, and Monday's brief hearing served to formalize the ex-officers' rejections of the state's offers. Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Matt Frank said plea negotiations began in earnest in May and continued into June. The offers would have dropped the charge of aiding and abetting murder.
Former Minneapolis police officer J. Alexander Kueng, left, and his attorney Thomas Plunkett arrive for sentencing for violating George Floyd's civil rights outside the Federal Courthouse Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP, File)
In April 2021, Chauvin, who is White, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 22 1/2 years on the state charge. Chauvin was later sentenced to 21 years on the federal civil rights charge.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thao, Kueng and Lane were convicted in federal court in February of violating Floyd's civil rights.
Tou Thao, left, and J. Alexander Kueng, right, are the remaining former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd's death (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
Thao, who held back concerned bystanders while Chauvin held a knew to Floyd’s neck and upper back, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years. Kueng, who pinned Floyd's back, was sentenced to 3 years. Lane, who held Floyd's legs and twice asked if he should be turned on his side, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years.
Lane avoided a state trial by pleading guilty in May to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in a deal that calls for a three-year sentence. His sentencing is Sept. 21.
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Chauvin remains in the state's maximum-security prison at Oak Park Heights pending his transfer to federal prison. The other three remain free on bail.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.